A Scourge Returns

June 04, 1991

At one time, measles, the childhood disease marked by fever, sore throat, sneezing and finally the tell-tale skin rash, was nearly eradicated in the United States. That was in 1983 when only 1,497 cases were reported. Last year, due to lax attitudes about immunization, there were more than 26,000 reported cases.

In Virginia, cases have been sporadic, says Jim Farrell, director of the Bureau of Immunization. So far this year there have been 22 cases of measles, he said. There were 86 cases in the state last year; 22 cases in 1989; 239 in 1988 and only one in 1987. Farrell said the inconsistency is typical. "You can't establish a pattern. It's just up and down. It's certainly a problem," he says. In 1988 the numbers jumped because there were two or three outbreaks of the highly contagious disease, which can be spread by sneezing.

New York City and Philadelphia have been particularly hard hit by measles with 2,000 and 1,215 cases respectively in each city this year alone. There have been no measles deaths in Virginia, Farrell said. But nationwide, 97 people died from the disease last year. That is a particularly alarming number of unnecessary deaths. It also marked the highest number of measles deaths since 1966 when 261 people died.

Early vaccines are the key to getting measles back to the pre-epidemic stage. Many parents forgo the vaccination at 15-months hoping to build their child's immune system, health officials say. But by ignoring the combined measles-mumps-rubella inoculation parents make children more vulnerable to the disease. Hence, the 26,000 cases nationwide last year, half of which were in children under 5.

Beginning July 1, children in Virginia will be required to have two doses of the measles vaccine instead of the one at 15 months old. The second must come before the child starts kindergarten. The double dose should ensure, at least in Virginia, that outbreaks of the disease can be controlled. With the number of incurable diseases that exist today, it is inexcusable that we have to revisit one that should have been eliminated years ago.